Coordinated Mobility: Disrupting Narratives of Convergence in the Irregular Migration of Youth from the Gaza Strip

Abstract

This article confronts the assumption that when irregular migration takes place in a context deemed to be terrorist, the two converge. The analysis is drawn from ethnographic fieldwork with young people engaged in the process of irregular migration from the Gaza Strip in occupied Palestine – a place often described as the largest open-air prison in the world. By analysing the process through which young people “coordinate” their movement out of Gaza, and their primary motivations for doing so, the article disrupts the idea of an incumbent criminal convergence of terrorism, irregular migration and human smuggling. It contributes to the growing literature which argues that, rather than operating with or through organized terrorist or criminal networks, the facilitation of irregular migration draws on improvised praxis. In the case of Gaza, it is also undertaken by youth in protest of the status quo of over twelve years of Israeli-Egyptian blockade of the Gaza strip, and the rule of the Hamas authority throughout this period. By attending to the experiences of youth in Gaza, the article explains the layers of economic and political agency that enable mobility in what is typically considered to be a highly immobile context.

Convergence Between Migrant Smuggling and Trafficking of Goods: Text Analysis of Open-Source Data

“…Indeed, data show that most of the time migrant smuggling occurs independently from other trafficking activities. Overall, this result expands on the findings of ethnographic studies that suggest a separation between migrant smuggling and trafficking activities perpetuated by organized criminal groups (Achilli and Sanchez 2021;Chin 1999;Demir, Sever, and Kahya 2017;Mancuso and Maldi 2022;Procter 2021;Spener 2009;Yates 2021).…”

“…In response to the alleged relevance of convergence, in the late 2010s and early 2020s, scholars started to investigate the convergence between migrant smuggling, organized crime, and terrorist activities (e.g., Achilli and Tinti 2019;Campana 2018;Izcara Palacios 2015;Procter 2021;Sanchez 2020;Yates 2021). In line with the bulk of research on migrant smuggling, these studies adopted qualitative methodological approaches to the study of convergence-particularly an ethnographic approach.…”